Honda today celebrated the 10th anniversary of two key facilities housed in the Honda Heritage Center (HHC) in Ohio – the Honda Technical Development Center (TDC), one of the leading resources for the advancement of manufacturing skills for current and future Honda associates, and the HHC Museum, which showcases the innovative history and growth Honda has achieved in North America during the past 65 years.
The Honda Heritage Center, located across the street from the Marysville Auto Plant, opened in November 2014. The $35 million, 160,000-square-foot facility, includes the museum, Technical Development Center and office space for numerous Honda business areas that support the company’s operations throughout North America.
The TDC and HHC museum recognized the shared 10th anniversary with an open house event and ceremony with Honda leaders, associates and special guests.
The TDC provides technical education and training courses that allow Honda production associates to learn or enhance a wide range of manufacturing skills. Responsible for developing and delivering technical training, the TDC leads technical education programs for Honda U.S.-based manufacturing plants.
“The Honda Heritage Center Museum tracks our history of more than six decades in America, including over 45 years of U.S. manufacturing,” said Bob Nelson, executive vice president at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “As we celebrate the museum’s 10th anniversary, we’re excited to again welcome visitors five days a week to learn about our exciting past, present and future.”
The museum restricted visitation hours during the pandemic but will open to the public five days a week again beginning November 21. The museum highlights products and significant milestones in the history of Honda in North America with more than 70 displays including historic products, future concepts and interactive exhibits.
Honda Technical Development Center
The TDC was designed to deliver state-of-the-art training to strengthen the technical skills of Honda associates and to ensure equipment reliability in Honda manufacturing facilities. The TDC combines classroom and experiential learning opportunities through more than 200 courses covering a variety of technical topics.
Recognizing the need to constantly evolve associate training, the TDC has created a flexible facility that allows the team to add courses to support new technologies such as electric vehicles (EV).
“Reflecting our strong focus on workforce development, the team at the Honda Technical Development Center continues to evolve our training programs to keep our associates abreast of the latest technologies as new equipment is introduced into our manufacturing facilities,” said TDC leader Aaron Suchland. “As we prepare for the challenges of EV production, we are developing training to support our unique approach of flexible production of petrol, hybrid and all-electric vehicles for our customers.”
Since opening the first center in the HHC, the TDC has expanded its offerings to new facilities in Ohio, Alabama and Indiana that support Honda associates in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
While the TDC delivers classes to an average of 3,000 associates per year, it has also hosted numerous students and community groups to promote workforce activities, demonstrating some of the technologies used in manufacturing.
Honda Manufacturing in America
Honda has been producing automobiles in America for over 40 years, beginning in November 1982 with the start of automobile production at the Marysville Auto Plant.
In 2023, 70% of all Honda and Acura automobiles sold in the U.S. were made in America, using domestic and globally sourced parts. Cumulative Honda auto production in America now exceeds 30 million vehicles.
Honda established manufacturing operations in America in 1979 with the start of motorcycle production in Marysville, Ohio, and today has one of the largest and most diverse U.S. manufacturing footprints of any international company. Nearly 23,000 U.S. associates support the company’s 12 manufacturing plants in America, supporting operations that have an annual capacity of more than 1 million automobiles, over 1.5 million engines, 60,000 power equipment products and 200,000 powersports products, as well as the HondaJet advanced light jet and GE Honda HF120 turbofan engines.
Cumulatively, Honda has invested over $19 billion in its U.S. manufacturing operations, including nearly $2.4 billion over the past five years alone. The company also works with 620 U.S. original equipment suppliers, with U.S.-sourced parts purchases of more than $520 billion since 1979.
SOURCE: Honda
